Local detectives solved a burglary case in less than a day with the Wednesday arrest of a suspect who allegedly stole a gun from a Haskell family's home the day before. The suspect is now behind bars and the gun has been recovered, police report.

"I honestly believe that this was resolved so quickly because of the cooperation by my detectives, the Prosecutor's Office, the Sheriff's Department and the Paterson PD," Wanaque Police Chief Thomas Norton said, "and that in doing so they averted a potential tragedy."

According to Norton, at approximately 6 p.m. on Tuesday, July 15, police received a call from a Storms Avenue family reporting that their home had been burglarized.

Police responded to the scene and spoke to the victims. They reportedly told police their home had been burglarized at some point earlier that day. The victims reportedly said the perpetrator or perpetrators had entered the residence by forcing open the rear door and had stolen a 9-millimeter handgun from the home.

Wanaque police detectives Capt. Ken Fackina and Charles Sahanas took over the investigation and processed the scene for evidence with assistance from the Passaic County Sheriff's Department's CSI Unit. In the course of the investigation, authorities discovered that a motion-activated camera had taken photos showing a man entering the home and then leaving a short time later wearing latex-type gloves.

"The homeowner had a wildlife camera and it happened to be pointed at the rear of the house," Norton said.

The suspect in the photographs is "known by detectives," according to Norton, and was identified as Haskell resident Samuel Reiff, 43. The family is also familiar with Reiff, according to Norton.

Further investigation led authorities to believe that Reiff was at his Haskell residence, and officers made an unsuccessful attempt to contact him there. The Passaic County Sheriff's Department SWAT unit was requested to respond, and a tactical entry and search revealed that Reiff was not at home, said Norton.

Norton said that didn't deter law-enforcement officials from pursuing the suspect and they worked late into the night following up on leads.

"I told my guys, 'We've got to get him and we've got to get that gun off the streets,'" Norton said.

The next morning, Wanaque police received a tip regarding Reiff's whereabouts. Officers responded to a Greenwood Street home in Haskell where Reiff was arrested without incident, according to Norton.

Reiff was charged with burglary, theft, possession of a weapon, and possession of a weapon by a prohibited person. His bail was set at $250,000 and he was transported to Passaic County Jail in lieu of bail. A pre-indictment has been scheduled for Aug. 6 in Passaic County Superior Court, according to Norton.

Despite Reiff's arrest, police were initially unable to recover the missing handgun. But the detectives' continued investigation led them to believe that the gun had been traded for narcotics in Paterson. Detectives from Wanaque, Paterson, and the Passaic County Prosecutor's Office later recovered the gun at an address on 24th Street in Paterson along with an unspecified amount of narcotics.

Norton said Justin Rey, 25, was arrested in Paterson and charged with possession of narcotics (heroin), possession of a weapon, and possession of a weapon by a prohibited person. Rey's bail was set at $75,000. He was also transported to Passaic County Jail in lieu of bail.